My Beloved Enemy

13. Matter of Heart

"Are you really okay with Chun Hua and Dong Feng?" Yu Qiao Bai asked as he sat down next to Du YuShi near the riverside.

Du YuShi shrugged, "they love each other, so what can I do?"

"So, you will follow my plan? You won't tell the king and the prince about it?" Yu Qiao Bai pressed, throwing a rock to the river.

The general heaved a sigh, "I won't, happy?"

"Pretty much." Another rock was thrown, forming riddles.

"How about you?"

"How about me?" Yu Qiao Bai turned his head towards the general to look at his eyes.

"You don't mind their relationship? Your sole company will be gone and you will be alone in the palace of Du," Du YuShi said softly, his eagle eyes staring at the prince's face to see his reaction.

"No. One of my conditions was to send her back, safe and sound after we arrived Du," Yu Qiao Bai declared with a low voice, his eyes glazed.

Du YuShi frowned as he already forgot about those conditions. "Why?" he asked with curiosity. He wouldn't think they could harm a maid, right?

"Once we reach the palace, I won't need her."

The frown got deeper, "why?" the general repeated the question.

Yu Qiao Bai just shrugged, refusing to answer. Knowing that he couldn't push him to give an answer, Du YuShi didn't utter a word, and the duo just sat there, watching the river as the lights of the day faded.

The river flowed slowly and the gentle breeze brought Yu Qiao Bai's jasmine-like scent to Du YuShi's nostrils, intoxicating him. Absorbed in their own thoughts, the duo didn't talk, so silence reigned, but it wasn't uncomfortable at all. If Yu Qiao Bai didn't shiver, Du YuShi could sit like that for the whole eternity.

"Let's go back to the camp, you are shivering," the general almost whispered as if he was afraid to disturb the scenery.

"I am used to it, let's sit for some more," the prince whispered back with a sigh.

"Are you afraid of fire?" The question slipped from Du YuShi's mouth before he could control them.

Yu Qiao Bai chuckled softly, "well, you can say that, I guess."

"How about warm food? Are you also afraid of it?" the general asked mockingly. He really wanted to unveil the mystery around the prince, but he wasn't wavering.

"I have some stomach problems," Yu Qiao Bai lied effortlessly, making Du YuShi arched his eyebrows.

"Really?"

The prince nodded with a far-off look on his face. "Do you really know Du royalty well?" he asked, changing the topic abruptly.

"Why do you ask?" It was the general's turn to be secretive. Karma...

"Do they keep their promise?" Yu Qiao Bai ignored his question and asked a new one as usual.

Something in his tone bothered Du YuShi and he decided to answer without mocking him. "They take their promises very seriously."

The prince nodded with a serious expression on his face. "Will you protect Chun Hua and Dong Feng?" he changed the topic again.

The general sighed audibly with irritation, "I will. I will even prepare a dowry for Chun Hua, happy?"

Yu Qiao Bai ignored his irritation, "thank you, I would appreciate that."

"Are there any more random questions you would like to ask?" Du YuShi teased him to lighten the atmosphere, being serious didn't suit the prince.

"Actually yes," Yu Qiao Bai looked at him in the eye, "that night, did you sleep with that girl?

Hearing the question, Du YuShi's eyes widened with shock, "oh my! Why are you asking that?"

"Because it is a random question as you wanted me to ask, so what is the answer?"

"Of course I did! I am a man and a soldier, how can I resist a willing girl?" Du YuShi lied, looking straight into Yu Qiao Bai's eyes which got darker each second.

"I see..." the prince uttered in disappointment.

"Is that all? Won't you comment on it?" the general asked with expectation, only to be disappointed.

"What can I say? Your body, your decision."

With that, they were quiet for a while. The darkness fell completely and the breeze turned into wind. Du YuShi wanted to take Yu Qiao Bai back to the camp before it got colder, but the latter was faster.

"Have you ever fallen in love?"

It was a simple question, but Du YuShi was tongue-tied. He grew up as a soldier and was always busy with state affairs. His parents wanted to marry him, but he always refused as secretly he believed in true love. Then, the war started and he didn't have any time to think of something trivial as love. When he forgot about the existence of love, Yu Qiao Bai forced himself into his life and befuddled him. As he was inexperienced in love, he wasn't sure if he was in love with his enemy although he was aware that his heartbeat was getting faster whenever he was near.

"I don't think I did," he answered honestly, in the end of a long thinking process.

"You didn't," Yu Qiao Bai confirmed, "if you did, you didn't need to think about it. It is a matter of heart not mind."

Du YuShi nodded, convinced. "How about you? You speak like an experienced person," he said, trying not to sound jealous.

"I have."

Du YuShi's hands clenched into fists unbeware. "Who is it?" he asked with a shaky voice.

"It doesn't matter," the prince smiled bittersweetly, "he will never be mine."

Du YuShi became an evil mixture of flabbergasted, jealous and angry. He didn't get surprised about the prince's sexual orientation as he sensed it already, but he rather wondered about that man who could bring such sadness onto Yu Qiao Bai's face, who could make him fall in love so intensely. He wondered why that man... wasn't he.

"Let's go back."

The words brought Du YuShi's wandering soul back. He stood up in a daze and followed Yu Qiao Bai who was walking slightly in front of him. After all that emotional turmoil he went through, the general was tired, so all he wanted to do was to sleep.

However, the night had other plans.